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NATO considering naming its HQ building in honor of McCain

Posted: 6:20 AM, Aug 29, 2018

Updated:2018-08-29 11:20:23Z

By:
CNN

NATO is considering a recent request by a UK member of parliament and chair of the foreign affairs committee to name the alliance's new billion-dollar headquarters building in Brussels in honor of the late US Sen. John McCain.

NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu told CNN that the request had been received by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and "will be considered carefully."

McCain was long seen as a leading voice in advocating for the transatlantic alliance, champing the expansion of NATO membership to other countries in Europe.

"He will be remembered ‎both in Europe and North America for his courage and character, and as a strong supporter of NATO," Stoltenberg wrote following his passing.

In his letter requesting the move, Conservative UK MP Tom Tugendhat wrote "very few people embodied the values that NATO is built on in the way Sen. John McCain III did."

"There can be no more fitting tribute to his career and the values that Sen. McCain espoused -- but also no better message for NATO to send at this time of global tension -- than to name its new headquarters building after the American statesman," he added.

NATO personnel moved into the new headquarters facility earlier this year and will house nearly 4,000 military and civilian personnel from the alliance's 29 members.